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Alieux
|Row 9 title = |Row 9 info = |Row 10 title = |Row 10 info = }} Alieux, Roseblessed goddess of love and desire, is commonly depicted as a youthful, silver-haired woman clothed in gowns either loose and flowing or delicate and revealing depending upon which aspect of her divine role she is depicted fulfilling. Her garb’s color ranges from deep purples to reddish wines, and her associated animal is the unicorn, a horn-like headdress often accompanying her other attire. Dogma Alieux simultaneously embodies two ostensibly contradictory aspects of her domain, promoting the joys of liberated passion and ardor as well as the worth of temperance and reservedness in matters of love. Love, she teaches, is as much the province of the head as it is the heart – romantic and erotic love are to be cherished, but pursued within reason, placing above all else the health both physical and mental of the involved parties through mutual communication, understanding, and trust. Her scriptures typically take the form of manuals of personal wellness, relationship advice, and sexual health, dispensed at her temples as educational material for the faithful of the Dominion. She urges her worshippers, above all, to know their desires and insecurities through meditation, self-awareness, and reflection – and to seek comfort in the arms of those who allay and soothe those insecurities, even if only temporarily. Longer-lasting, enduring bonds are to be cherished all the more. Prior to the formation of the Dominion, her doctrine was considerably more liberal, endorsing open relationships and polyamorous affairs -- but her teachings have since seen severe edits under the more conservative provisions of the Rose Throne. In the early days of the empire, Alic doctrine was "reined in" and appropriated for the purposes of implementing rules of conduct for formal courtship, and those among her priests who join the Rose Clergy are typically the officiators of weddings, dispensers of permission to marry from the Throne itself, and handlers of inheritance and dowries. With the Dominion's slide into decline, however, the old teachings have seen a surge in popularity, albeit cherry-picked and warped toward hedonistic ends. Clergy & Temples While the intersection of legal matters and love is handled by her representatives in the Rose Clergy, un-elevated clerics of Alieux are usually suppliers of solace and advice to both lovers and the lovelorn, often matrons and caregivers, former prostitutes, scholars of mental maladies, or some other minders of others’ needs. Unlike the members of many other priesthoods, they swear no oath of chastity, and revere the concept of love itself as much as they revere their goddess, prizing it as a sacred thing to be exchanged with respect. Their vestments are typically dark reds and purples. Like the other Roseblessed gods, Alieux has a grand cathedral in her honor near the center of the Dominion capital, where weddings between great noble families and other relevant ceremonies are held. In addition to the cathedral, her popularity among both the nobility (who take her older teachings of freedom and openness as sanction for debauchery) and the lower classes (who find her dogma of levelheadedness to be equalizing) has given rise to many smaller temples and shrines peppered across the Shards, spreading her influence beyond the Dominion alone. Avatars Avatars of Alieux most often reflect her true appearance, though she is known to alter aspects of them -- hair, eyes, weight, gender presentation -- as a matter of whimsy. She uses her avatars to walk unseen among her faithful, often posing as a humble priestess to administer care and advice to her worshippers, or to facilitate dalliances with mortals who take her interest. Category:Planeswatch Category:Roseblessed Category:Deities Category:Non-Player Characters